Day 4 At Spring Training: Victory Rising
SURPRISE, ARIZ. (105.3 THE FAN) – The Prince Fielder (and now Adrien Beltre) bit is coming closer to reality … be ready.
Most Valuable Person(s): Jon Daniels
Tough call here.
Derek Holland pitched five strong innings Wednesday afternoon in the Texas Rangers' 5-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs and then came on the show with us, but I gotta go with the General Manager and President of Baseball Operations.
Not only did he give us more time than we were originally allotted, he answered honestly and indulged us in the ridiculous questions we are known for (we're gonna play catch on the field after the Rangers-Cubs Futures Game!). He also gave us an on-air grade of, "Strong and just where you need to be," for our interview, which … shameless plug alert … you hopefully heard at the start of our 7-11pm show Wednesday on 105.3 The Fan!
Least Valuable Person: Grabby McGrabberson
There were three playoff teams at Surprise Stadium on Wednesday.
The Cubs (2015 NL Wild Card), the Rangers (2015 AL West Champions) and the Dallas Stars, who clinched just their second postseason trip in the last eight seasons Tuesday night thanks to a 6-2 thrashing of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Stars, as you can imagine, were in high spirits and we had the opportunity to talk with Jordie Benn, Vernon Fiddler, Kari Lehtonen and Travis Moen.
While Cory Mageors was talking with Fiddler and several of the guys were waiting to get food, Moen pulled me to the side and suggested I ask Fiddler, "Who has the flattest a** on the team?"
And of course I did, I mean … c'mon … he's in the NHL!
Fiddler said it was Moen and Moen responded in kind, thus the Great Buttocks Debate of 2016 began!!
An eighth-grade teacher, standing behind some of the guys and waiting to get a margarita, decided to weigh in on the conversation. But not with her eyes, no … she started grabbing the backsides of Fiddler and Moen!
Yes, really!!
I asked Moen if he authorized said grabbing and he said, "I don't think so," at which point Grabby McGrabberson (who I now suspected might have already been drinking) proudly declared, "And my husband is standing right there."
I'm not entirely sure those two are gonna make it, but good luck to them nonetheless.
Meanwhile, Moen and Fiddler quickly moved on from the incident as soon as they, along with Benn, found out Valeri Nichushkin was paying for the food. The bill doubled in size after that. "Yeah, I grabbed an extra drink and hot dog," Benn said. "[Nichushkin] doesn't open his wallet too much, so whenever he does – you've got to get some extra stuff!"
It's a twister, it's a twister … no, it's a dust storm
This space has been used for a dirt discussion, but now let's shift slightly over to dust.
Specifically, the dust storm that rolled through Wednesday afternoon just prior to the start of the Futures Game. The National Anthem (our second of the day, though this one was recorded) had just finished and players were prepping to take the field when the entire crowd started to buzz and duck while the winds whipped through, hot dog wrappers spun across and over the field and future superstars for both squads hustled back to the dugout.
That caused a minor delay for first pitch, but the prospects were ready to hit the field sooner rather than later … a sentiment I'm sure they all hope their respective Major League clubs adopt as well.
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